Arvesen back in business after collarbone break

Team Sky's Kurt Asle Arvesen is ready to get back to racing in the Tirreno-Adriatico next week after breaking his collarbone last month at the Tour of Qatar. Arvesen was rolling along with the peloton while still in the neutralized zone when the incident happened.

"It was really an absurd kind of accident because it happened before the race proper had started," he said on the team's website after the crash. The previous day the team had won the team time trial that opened the race.

Two weeks ago the Norwegian was optimistic about getting back to racing in time to ride the cobbled classics in April and, after working with team's physiotherapists and doctors, he's ready to get back to business.

"My collarbone is in place and it's healing well," he said to TV 2, adding that he has been impressed with the team's support in the matter.

"For the last week, I've been 'at home' in Italy. I've been training well without much pain," he continued. "I rode a simulated '5-day stage race' and finished it today. The stages were from four to six hours and included strength and threshold work. I finished today's six hour ride with 2 ½ hours of motorpacing. The form could well have been better, but I'm ready to get started [racing]."

The 35 year old knows that if he wants to be in condition to help Team Sky's chances in the cobbled classics he doesn't have any time to waste. "I've had good communications with the management, doctors and sports directors at Team Sky and today we agreed that I would start in Tirreno-Adriatico next week," he said.

"We are going to have to see how it goes, but the plan is that I will do a Classics program that will include the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix in April," he confirmed.